[BC] putting phone calls on the air

[Xen Scott]

At 01:09 AM 09/17/2006 -0700, Richard Rudman wrote:
>During my first year working summer relief as a tech for WBZ in 1966,
>I occasionally handled the engineering for a talk show with callers
>on the air called "Contact" hosted by Bob Kennedy.... I know "Contact!"
>aired on WBZ starting in 1961. If memory serves, shows based on the
>"Contact" talk show format of host with guests and callers on the phone
>aired on other Group W stations, KYW and KDKA, among them.

I don't believe "Contact!" aired on KYW-AM in Philadelphia because it had
an all-news format after 1965.  The "Contact!" format involving callers
on the air did air on KYW-TV by 1968 when I worked there and possibly
for few years before then.  The host was Tom Snyder who later went on to
host a late night NBC Network show.

The seven second delay of the program was accomplished with two side-by-side
videotape machines with the tape recorded on the left machine and played on
the right machine.

I'm not sure what equipment was used to get caller audio on the air except
that no "beeps" were used.  I think it might have been a telco supplied
phone coupler.

Xen Scott